The U.S. Navy recently announced it ordered its personnel not to have the mobile app, TikTok, on any of the government-issued mobile devices. It also warned them about protecting personal information. In a bulletin the government agency posted early last week on a Facebook page intended for military personnel, it said those who did not delete the said short-video mobile application would be blocked from the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI). This was reported by Reuters late last week.
In an article posted on the website of CNET, the director of public affairs of United States Fleet Cyber Command/U.S. 10th Fleet, Dave Benham, said that users of the NMCI were directed to "install/uninstall the app TikTok from government-furnished mobile gadgets like iPads and iPhones." The said decision, according to the official, was made best on the threat assessments of the agency's cybersecurity. More so, it was consistent with the initiatives of the 10th Fleet to address the existing and incoming threats of the networks' defense proactively.
For the Protection of Personal Information
A Pentagon representative recently told Reuters via a statement that the bulletin directs appropriate action, as well, for the navy employees to take in order to protect their personal information. Reuters, in turn, said, the agency would not give any detail about the dangers TikTok could bring. This video-sharing app is the best venue on the Internet to some tech-savvies consider. Despite this, the U.S. Navy personnel who have it were all instructed to delete it on their government-issued mobile device.
TikTok is a ByteDance- (a Beijing-based firm) owned company, and the U.S. government officials have aired their concern that the companies of China "under the thumb of the government, and could use their products" for threatening and other spying activities. These firms, according to Christopher Ashley Ford, a U.S. State Department official, "have no meaningful ability to tell the Chinese Communist Party 'no'" should the officials decide to ask assistance from them. TikTok denied any form of cooperation with the government. With this, the U.S. Army prohibited last month cadets from using the mobile app, following Senator Schumer's expression of worries over the Army's recruitment initiatives that used TikTok.
TikTok's Engagement with Data Privacy Concern
Earlier on, the U.S. Government initiated an inspection on some ties provoked by apprehensions and data privacy concerns that TikTok controls the content that's crucial to the Chinese Government. Nevertheless, the company denied such allegations saying, they have never been ordered neither asked by the Chinese Administration to remove content. And, should the latter order them to do so, TikTok said it would not follow.
Incidentally, TikTok recently apologized and lifted the ban to an American teen whose account was locked after she posted a video containing criticism against the government of China on how it treats the Uighur Muslims. In connection to the incident, TikTok says it is presently reviewing its moderation policies and processes and is planning to publish its first transparency report soon.
